Be Ready for What ever Happens

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last post. I have been in Florida training in Hyperbaric and Undersea Medicine with Mr. Dick Rutkowski at Hyperbarics International. He is one of the inventors of mixed gas diving, and a legend in the world of dive medicine. His school is a museum of diving history, and he trains military as well as civilian dive medical personnel there. Of course, I took the opportunity to make a few dives, too

I have always taught the dive medicine portion in our Advanced Wilderness Life Support courses (coming up in September), but this year I will be adding a lot of information that is not part of their standard curriculum. If you are into underwater activities, you will want to hear this one!

That seems to be a pretty good lead in to the next survival topic: water.

In this country, we take water for granted. We turn a knob, and safe, usually decent tasting, water flows out- as much as we want. But in reality, good drinking water is a precious commodity.

We need a minimum of a gallon per person per day. But we use much more- washing clothes, dishes, cooking. All are far more than the daily subsistence amount.

Our supply can be gone in an instant from contamination, natural disasters, even terrorism. The water supplies and pumping stations are not guarded. I am surprised terrorists and bad actors have not noticed that yet.

To be sure you and your family can get through a disaster (or worse) now is the time to think about how you can store or purify water. First, decide how long YOU think your planned water shortage is most likely to be. If you feel the worst thing you will encounter is a 2-3 day boil order, then you do not need to worry about large water storage containers. If you think the supply will be contaminated for longer, then plan for that. The good news is that the cost is all up front now (the price of the containers) and the water is currently cheap and plentiful.

Multiply the number of people you are storing water for times the number of days you think you need it for, and that is how many gallons you need to store. Example- 3 people times 4 days equals 12 gallons.

There are many good water storage containers of all sizes available. Be sure and use food grade containers that are made for water storage. Clean them properly with an appropriate chlorine solution, and rinse thoroughly. Add water, seal and store.

Another option is water filters. There are many great ones on the market, but notice that most only filter bacteria and parasites. A few can filter viruses, and even fewer claim to filter heavy metals and chemicals. Carefully research any that you are considering and be sure their claims are valid, and that it fits your needs.